A DECISION to leave the club he spent more than a decade with has already paid dividends for respected defender Geoff Spriggs.
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Spriggs, now 30, made his senior football debut at the age of 15 and has not missed a season since.
When his home-town club merged, he spent three seasons playing with Horsham Saints.
He was completing year 12 at boarding school when he received a phone call from Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes.
“I had a mate playing at Mango and I thought it would be something different, and I stayed here ever since,” Spriggs explained.
Spriggs joined the Goannas in 2001 but it was his desire to coach that linked him with Collingullie-Ashmont-Kapooka this year.
He joined the Demons as assistant to Shane Lenon and has slotted into the team with ease.
On Sunday, Spriggs will pull on the boots to play his first grand final.
He says the day has been a long time coming.
“I’ve played 16 seasons of first grade footy and never played a grand final,” Spriggs said.
“I wouldn’t say I’m nervous, it’s more excitement and determination.
“As you get older I guess that bit of experience helps ... you know what you have to do because you’ve been doing it for 16 years.”
Now that Spriggs has his shot at a flag, he isn’t planning to let it slip through his fingers.
“I’m confident we can get one more (win),” he said. “We’ve had to go through Ganmain twice to get here, which is a big effort, and we are all ready to go.”
Spriggs is unsure which Coolamon forward he will get the job on during the grand final, but hinted it could be Lew Roberts or Ben Cadzow.
He says he is still unsure about his football plans for next year.
Meanwhile, Jim Quinn medallist Chris Gordon is in a race against the clock to get himself fit to play on Sunday.
Gordon injured his troublesome left shoulder during the preliminary final.
He was yesterday confident of getting up to play the grand final but admitted he didn’t want to do so if he felt underdone.
“It should be fine by Sunday (but) I’ll only play if it’s 100 per cent,” Gordon said via text message.
“Not going to let the boys down by playing then getting hurt five minutes into the game, but it should come up.”
